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Challenging Cases Intro

We invite you to weigh in on the case vignettes presented in this space. The cases are culled from the real-life experiences of the authors, and many have previously been published in Psychiatric Times within the context of a clinical article. The identity of the patients in each of these cases has been altered. We feature them here because each case involves at least one diagnostic or therapeutic decision dilemma.

The first half of the 20th century saw 2 world wars, indiscriminate aerial bombing of civilians, the dropping of the atomic bomb, and the Holocaust-all of which created intense trauma for soldiers and civilians.Yet it was not until the American intervention in a post-colonial civil war in Southeast Asia that the psychiatric community in the 1970s formally described what we now call PTSD.

Mostly prose with effective inclusion of poetry, author Jill Bialosky adds an important survivor’s perspective in her book of her sister's suicide. To clinicians in particular, the book may serve as a window into the psychic lives of those left behind following a tragic end.

The recent spate of Op-Eds in the New York Times says it all: both the psychiatric profession and the general public have strong feelings about the pending DSM-5-what many in the media like to call “Psychiatry’s Bible.” These emotions are certainly understandable.

During my career-initially as a caddy and now as a psychiatry resident-I’ve had the immense privilege of listening to the stories of others. Here's one of those stories.

Here's a sampling of Psychoeducational Resources with live links including those available from the NIMH (NIMH Schizophrenia_ and Learning About Healthy Living.